At 78 Maria Linforth-Hall is Southwark’s oldest councillor, but this active Ecuadorian is so dedicated to her constituents that she responds within the hour ‘regardless of the time of day.’
A familiar face around the Elephant and Castle, Maria has been a councillor for nine years, has founded a charity supporting women and children of domestic violence and says what’s important to her is helping and listening to her constituents any time of the day and night.
She claims that she and fellow ward councillor Graham Neale are the only councillors to have WhatsApp group chats with their constituents, and said during the pandemic she was doing 25 cases every day.
“For me, it’s not a question about whether it’s too late at night or a weekend or whatever,” she said. “It’s what people need.”
“It’s important we listen to our residents.”
Her top priority is advocating for more social housing to address the issue of temporary accommodation and families being sent outside the borough.
Born in Quito, Ecuador in 1945, and the daughter of a diplomat, Maria was involved in politics from a young age.
She first left her homeland in the early 60s to study in Paris – first marketing and business, and later cookery. After returning home briefly, Maria said she was forced to leave her country due to political reasons.
She first went to Spain and then moved to London in 1968.
Maria’s late husband Tony recently featured in the News after he formed a walking football group – for cancer patients like himself to carry on playing the game they love while undergoing treatment.
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The pair met 52 years ago in Cyprus while Maria was working in travel advertising. They became inseparable after a chance meeting at an airport, ultimately sharing a deep bond until Tony’s recent passing – on which Maria commented: “I lost my husband. I lost my best friend, my companion.
“From the minute I saw him I said to myself, I will be with that man until the end of my days,” she fondly recalled.
When they first arrived in London, they lived on a boat in Canary Wharf before settling in Elephant and Castle.
They joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) as members when it launched in 1981 and when the SDP folded seven years later they decided to take a break from politics.
“Then in 2006, I decided to join the Liberal Democrats and stand for election,” Maria said.
She added that Tony’s support was a driving force behind her decision to become a councillor. She explained that she was ‘immediately’ put on the list to be a candidate for Faraday ward in Walworth, but lost that one.
“Then for the 2014 elections, I was asked to stand for St George’s Ward and I won. Now I’ve been a councillor for nine years.”
During her time as a councillor, she has focused on issues close to her heart, especially the mental health challenges faced by immigrants due to language barriers and educational disparities.
Her patch, St George’s Ward – which takes in the northern part of Elephant and Castle and the southern part of Borough – has one of London’s highest Latin American populations.
Maria is proud of her Latin American roots, something that drives a lot of the work she does today as a councillor in Southwark.
She founded Su Mano Amiga, a charity aiding domestic violence survivors, primarily among Spanish and Portuguese-speaking communities.
“In the Latin American community especially, there is a lot of domestic violence. That’s the main reason I started this initiative. It’s important that people get the support to stop the circle of abuse. The last thing we want them to do is to become perpetrators themselves.”
When Tony got ill, she said she had to let that go to look after him – but continues to support survivors outside of the group including running a creative monthly dance workshop for women and children.
Although she has been consistently politically active, the issue of party politics doesn’t seem to weigh heavy on her mind, with her claiming she is good friends with lots of Labour councillors – ‘they are not my enemies’, she said.
In August we profiled Southwark’s youngest councillor 23-year-old Joseph Vambe, whose tuition fees at Cambridge University were subbed by megastar Stormzy.
Joseph lives and grew up in Elephant and Castle and now has his own programme ‘Equivalent-Exchange’ which supports, mentors and provides opportunities for pupils in the most disadvantaged local schools.
‘Stormzy paid for me to go to Cambridge’ – an interview with Southwark’s youngest councillor
By the time the next local elections come around in 2026, Maria will be 81 and says she thinks that it would be time to stand down.
Local councillors are elected to help and represent people with issues in Southwark from housing to street cleaning and anything that they feel needs addressing by the local authority.
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